How Teen Titans Go! Has Evolved Since Season 1
Teen Titans Go! is an animated show that is broadcast on the Cartoon Network. It can be considered a spinoff of sorts to the Teen Titans that was broadcast from 2003 to 2006, but for the most part, it should be considered its own thing. Regardless, while there are a lot of Teen Titans fans who have less than positive opinions about Teen Titans Go!, the show has nonetheless managed to prove to be a true success.
For starters, it should be mentioned that Teen Titans Go! still has some similarities with its predecessor. For example, the main cast remains Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy. Moreover, the members of the main cast are still played by the same voice actors. However, the two shows are very different from one another in other respects, so much so that it is best not to make assumptions about one based on the other.
How Has Teen Titans Go! Changed Over Time?
First, while the first Teen Titans show had its moments of humor, it had its moments of seriousness as well, which is perhaps unsurprising when in a lot of respects, it was a pretty standard but well-made example of a superhero show. In contrast, Teen Titans Go! tends to be a mix of comic, crazy, and outright parodic, which is helped by its lack of long-running narratives. To get an idea of the kind of content that people can expect from Teen Titans Go!, it should be noted that one episode featured Raven sending the rest of the team to find the ingredients for a mystical sandwich while another episode featured Robin and Speedy competing with one another to go out on a date with Starfire.
Second, while Teen Titans characters show up in Teen Titans Go!, their personalities are often similar but not quite the same because some characteristics have been exaggerated. Moreover, Teen Titans tended to be pretty distant from the rest of the DC Universe, so much so that it was a matter of some debate about which Robin the character was even supposed to be. In contrast, Teen Titans Go! has been much more willing to let other DC characters show up, with examples ranging from the aforementioned Speedy to both Batman and Commissioner Gordon.
Third, even the styles of the two shows show clear differences. Teen Titans‘s style is very stylized, but it is closer to realism than its successor, which has gone out of its way to adopt a cuter, more miniaturized look that draws inspiration but is nonetheless very distinct.
As such, it is no wonder that Teen Titans Go! met with such a lackluster response from a significant percentage of Teen Titans fans. After all, it is nothing like its predecessor in spite of superficial similarities, which came as a huge disappointment to people who had been waiting on a follow-up to one of the Cartoon Network’s most beloved shows for years and years. With that said, it should be noted that while Teen Titans Go! doesn’t work as a sequel to Teen Titans, it was never supposed to be. Instead, it does perfectly well as its own thing, as shown by the fact that it actually got its own movie in July of 2018.
For the most part, the movie served as a pretty great example of what Teen Titans Go! is like. In short, it see the Teen Titans wanting to see a movie made about them because other superheroes are getting movies made about them, which is a jab at the popularity of superhero movies in the last couple of decades. However, it also features the Teen Titans being successful because of their bonds with one another, which is a good example of the messages that are sometimes inserted into the show. With that said, pretty much everything is wrapped up in a shell of silliness that could be fun for people who aren’t too concerned about serious storylines.
Amusingly, it should be mentioned that a mid-credit scene revealed that Warner Bros. has plans for a crossover between the Teen Titans of the predecessor show and their counterparts from Teen Titans Go! As a result, it will be interesting to see how they plan to make these two casts work with one another as well as how the fans will respond.
